Filling feeler



Patented July 20, 1937 y 2,087,873 FILLING ranma Horace H. Burdett,Hopedale, Mass., assigner to Draper Corporation, Hopedale, Mass., acorporation of Maine Application February Z4, 1937, Serial No. 127,375

y 2 Claims.

The present invention pertains to. lling feelers forA looms and has moreparticular reference to filling feelers of the mechanical type includinga feeler blade having a filling-engaging tip which is directly engagedby the filling supply in the shuttle.

AsV commonly constructed, the filling feeler blade of such feelers ismovably mounted on a feeler stand and is adapted, when moved in apredetermined manner, to control the lling replenishing mechanism of theloom. The movement of the feeler blade is effected by engagement of thefilling supply, or a bare filling carrier, with the tip of the feelerblade.

An object of the present invention is to provide a filling feelerincluding a movable feeler blade as aforesaid, which feeler blade shallhave a novel and improved feeler tip as will more 'fully appear.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated on theaccompanying drawing, of which:

' Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my improved filling feeler in positionon a loom;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of said lling feeler with the cover removed, thisview also showing in dotted lines a second position which the feelerblade assumes in operation of the loom; and

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but illustrating the action of thefeeler when the filling supply becomes substantially depleted.

The drawing shows the left hand end of a lay l, which reciprocatestoward and from the front of the loom and which is provided with ashuttle box 2 for receiving a shuttle 3. The shuttle contains a fillingcarrier, such as bobbin 4, which carries the supply of lling F., Theshuttle is picked back and forth along the lay to form picks of thelling thread in the shed (not shown), as is well known in the art. Whenthe filling supply on the bobbin 4 is substantially exhausted the bobbinis automatically ejected from the shuttle and replaced by a fesh bobbin,by mechanism not shown which is controlled by the filling feelermechanism to be described.

Such filling feeler mechanism operates to determine the condition of thelling supply by feeling of the same through a slot 5 in the front wallof the shuttle and when a predetermined state of exhaustion of thefilling supply is detected a rod B is moved to initiate operation of thebobbin changing mechanism as above stated.

The feeler mechanism shown includes a feeler stand 1 and cover plate 8secured thereto, the stand being xed to a bracket 9 at the front of theloom in front of the shuttle box 2. The filling feeler blade includes arearwardly extending portion l, a laterally extending arm l l at thefront of the portion Il), and a feeler tip I2 at the rearward endthereof. This blade is mounted directly on the feeler stand formovements forwardly and rearwardly of the loom and for side slippingmovements against the action of a spring i3, as is more fully disclosedin patent to Brown and Repass, No. 1,593,426, granted July 20, 1926.

The operation of the feeler is well known in the art but may be brieflystated. When the lay moves forwardly with the shuttle 3 in the shuttlebox 2, the feeler tip l2 enters the slot E in the shuttle. If, at suchtime, there is ample lling on the bobbin the filling supply F strikesthe feeler tip l2 and moves the feeler blade forwardly from the fullline position of Fig. 2 to the dotted line position thereof, withoutmoving the rod 6. When the lling supply F becomes substantiallyexhausted, the feeler tip is struck by the bobbin t and will slidetherealong, thereby moving rod Ei, as suggested by Fig. 3.

The feeler tip l2 is of novel construction devised particularly toprevent damage to the filling thread from the repeated striking of thefilling supply F against the feeler tip, and to prevent prematuresliding or side-slipping of the feeler blade. To this end, the feelertip l2 comprises a strip of leather bent into a loop the bight l ofwhich extends rearwardly from the feeler blade and the rounded exteriorsurface i6 of which is adapted to engage the filling supply F in theshuttle. The legs il, Il of the loop are xed to the rearward end of thefeeler blade.

A strip of leather, when formed into a loop, is more or less resilientor yieldable, according to the nature of the material and the thicknessof the strip. Such a loop is, therefore, less apt to injure the fillingthread. In the particular embodiments shown on the drawing, the feelertip l2 is formed of a strip of flexible leather. The strip of materialof which the feeler tip is formed may be of sufficient thickness thatthe loop is self-sustaining, i. e., the loop will keep its shape andwill not be materially deformed by the blows to which it is subjected inoperation. The thickness of the strip must be determined in accordancewith several factors such as the nature of the leather and its degree offlexibility, the strength of the spring i3, and possibly the speed ofoperation of the loom. I nd that if the feeler tip is made of leather itwill have the desired characteristics if it is constructed substantiallyin the proportions shown on the drawing.

The legs il of the feeler tip extend forwardly from the bight M of theloop and, in the form shown, are substantially in parallelism. Theselegs are positioned on opposite sides of the rearward end of the portioni of the feeler blade. Fastening means such as rivets i8 pass throughthe legs il and the portion [il of the feeler blade to secure the feelertip to the feeler blade. Such rivets may be removed should it be desiredto provide a new feeler tip for the feeler blade.

I nd that the lling thread often operates more satisfactorily if therounded lling engaging surface I6 is provided with filling engagingteeth as shown. I also find that the leather tip may be prevented fromabrading or catching the filaments of sorne artificial silk fillingthreads if the tip is coated with a solution of cellulose dissolved inacetone.

Having fully disclosed the preferred embodi ment of my invention, Iclaim:

1. A lling feeler including a side-slipping feeler blade having asubstantially straight rearwardly extending stern and a feeler tip atthe rearward end of said stern, said tip comprising a strip of leatherbent into a loop the lo ht of which extends rearwardly from said steinand is provided with iilling-engaging teeth, the legs of said loopextending forwardly and being xed to said stem.

2. A lling feeler including a side-slipping eeler blade having asubstantially straight rearn wardly extending stern and a feeler tip atthe rearward end of said stern, said tip comprising a loop formed from astrip of leather of sufficient thickness that said loop is substantiallyselfsustaining, the bight of said loop extending rearwardly from saidstern and the rounded exterior surface thereof being provided withliing-engaging teeth, the legs of said loop extending forwardly insubstantial parallelism and being fixed to opposite sides of said stem.

HORACE I-I. BURDETT.

